Board and Byte Games is an Erasmus+ professional development activity, run as an Erasmus+ training course for youth workers, in Tosya, Türkiye, from 20 to 28 November 2026. Participants explore how gamification can be used in youth work and then create their own board games and digital games in teams. The activity brings together 36 participants aged 18 or older from the 33 Erasmus+ Programme countries, and applications close on 25 October 2026. At Youth Works Hub, we reviewed the infopack and the live application form so you know exactly what you are signing up for.
No coding is needed: the digital games are built with no-code, AI-supported tools, and the project provides the AI accounts. You only need to bring your own laptop. There is no participation fee.
Play, Build, Test: What the Activity Is About
The Municipality of Tosya runs this professional development activity for youth workers under its Erasmus+ KA151 Youth Accreditation, and the subject is gamification and game development. Our guide to Erasmus+ accreditation explains what this accreditation is, and our guide to Mobility of Youth Workers explains the wider Erasmus+ action.
Participants first discuss how gamification can be used in youth work, then produce games in teams around selected themes. Some teams build a board game and others build a digital game. The games are tested with high school students and become tools that youth workers can use in the field.
Aims and Learning Outcomes
🎲 Learn the fundamentals of gamification and its applications in youth work.
🧩 Turn a youth work method or a social issue into game mechanics.
💻 Produce tabletop and digital games with no-code, AI-supported tools.
🧰 Create concrete tools you can use in your own organisation.
🤝 Experience teamwork, the design process and a culture of playtesting.
🏅 Document learning outcomes through Youthpass.
From Idea to Game: How the Teams Work
👥 Teams: teams are formed based on your interests and the theme you choose.
🎯 Themes: each team works on a theme from a pool of 12.
🛠️ Build: board games, plus digital games built with no-code, AI-supported tools.
🏫 Test: two school visits to test the games with students.
🚀 Share: digital games are published online and tested live.
You choose your team type. Board game teams design tabletop games with their own mechanics, rules and materials. Digital game teams build web-based games with no-code, AI-supported tools and publish them online. The organisers are looking for people who are genuinely interested in digital tools and AI for the digital teams. AI accounts are provided by the project and allocated to the teams, so you do not need to open any account yourself. If you are not into digital, you can join a board game team.
The Theme Pool
The 12 themes are split into two groups.
Erasmus+ based themes:
🎓 Youth work: the role of the youth worker and methods of working with young people.
🙌 Volunteering.
🗳️ Active participation.
🔗 Building group dynamics: trust and belonging.
🧠 Teamwork: solving problems together.
👋 Inclusion and ice-breaking: getting to know each other.
Current youth agenda themes:
🌍 Climate crisis and the environment.
🌾 Sustainable agriculture and food.
♻️ Waste management and recycling.
📱 Digital literacy and disinformation.
🛡️ Peer bullying.
💼 Youth employment and entrepreneurship.
What You Create
1️⃣ One playable game per team, board or digital.
2️⃣ A rulebook and facilitator guide for each game.
3️⃣ A toolkit youth workers can use in their own organisations.
4️⃣ Youthpass certificates for all participants.
The Programme, Day by Day
The programme covers 9 days with 7 activity days. The infopack calls it a draft and a roadmap, not a fixed timetable, so sessions may change.
🛬 Friday 20 November: arrival.
🤝 Saturday 21 November, getting connected: icebreakers and team building, gamification in youth work (why games?), what makes a game a game, and a game mechanics challenge.
💡 Sunday 22 November, from ideas to prototypes: from social issues to game ideas, a theme marketplace and team formation, a game design canvas and a rapid prototype challenge.
🧪 Monday 23 November, game development: board, street or digital games, game development labs, a no-code, AI-supported playground for digital games, and a peer playtest.
🏫 Tuesday 24 November, testing with real players: school visit 1 with playtesting with students, student feedback analysis, a redesign lab and version 2.0.
⚖️ Wednesday 25 November, balancing and facilitation: balancing fun, challenge and learning, rules, instructions and facilitation, and a stress test: can others run your game?
📈 Thursday 26 November, improving the games: school visit 2 to test the improved games, version 1 versus version 2, and the rulebook and facilitator guide.
🏆 Friday 27 November, game fair and closing: a game fair to play, test and explore, how you can use your game in your organisation, Youthpass and evaluation, and an intercultural and farewell night in the evening.
🛫 Saturday 28 November: departure.
The Intercultural and Farewell Night
On the last evening, 27 November, every participant presents their country with food, drinks, music, dances and traditions, even if they are the only one from their country. The organisers invite you to think about what makes your culture unique and to prepare something fun to share.
Who Can Join
🎂 Age: 18 or older.
🌍 Countries: the 33 Erasmus+ Programme countries listed in the Project Snapshot.
👥 Profile: youth workers, youth leaders, volunteers and young people active in youth projects. You should have some experience in youth work or youth projects, but you do not need to be an expert.
🎮 Interests: games, gamification and youth work.
🗣️ English: enough to follow the sessions and take part in the workshops.
🏢 Organisation: each participant represents an organisation.
📅 Full participation: you must take part in the full programme, from 20 to 28 November.
💻 Laptop: all participants need their own laptop to work on the games.
Our guide to the role of youth workers explains how these roles fit into Erasmus+ projects, and our guide to non-formal education explains the learning approach behind activities like this one.
Your Host: the Municipality of Tosya
The Municipality of Tosya holds an Erasmus+ Youth Accreditation (KA151) and organises international youth activities regularly. Young people and youth workers from different countries have already met in Tosya and in North Macedonia through its projects, and it says it is always open to new partnerships. Its vision is to create modern spaces where young people can grow through education, arts and sport.
Its recent projects, according to the infopack:
🌍 Connected Futures: Youth & Technology (May 2025): youth exchange in Tosya.
🎯 Eleven Goals United (August 2025): youth exchange in Tosya.
💻 Virtual Components (2025): youth worker training in Ohrid, North Macedonia.
♻️ Green Practices (September 2026): youth worker mobility in Ohrid, North Macedonia.
The activity is organised in collaboration with Youth Works Hub and the Genç Yaşamın Sesleri Derneği. During the sessions there are live hashtag and tagging activities on Instagram, and what participants create is shared on the Tosya Youth and Youth Works Hub accounts. Digital games are published online.
Discover Tosya
Tosya is a district of Kastamonu province, between the Ilgaz Mountains and the fertile Devrez valley. The infopack describes it as a warm and welcoming town where history, nature and local crafts meet.
🏘️ People and crafts: about 39,000 people live in Tosya (2025), and the town has around 1,500 woodworking workshops producing doors, windows and furniture for the whole country.
🏛️ History: known as Doceia in Byzantine times, Tosya has been a crossroads of cultures for centuries and served on the supply route from İnebolu to Ankara during the Turkish War of Independence. A local legend says the name comes from the words "dost ya", meaning "friend", which is why Tosya is also called the City of Friends.
🍚 Rice: the rice fields of the Devrez valley make Tosya famous across the country, and the local Sarıkılçık rice is called "the king of rice".
🏷️ Tosya Bıçkısı: a handmade pocketknife with a buffalo horn handle and a registered geographical indication.
🧭 Places to discover: historic mosques such as the Abdurrahman Paşa Mosque (1584), traditional vineyard houses called gümele, and the forest lakes Dipsiz Göl and Yeşilgöl.
Accommodation and Food
🏨 Hotel: Doğramacı City Hotel in Tosya.
🛏️ Rooms: shared rooms for 2 or 3 people, assigned by gender. Roommates come from different countries. The organisers arrange the rooms before arrival, you meet your roommate at the hotel, and room changes are not possible after check-in.
🍽️ Meals: 3 meals a day plus coffee breaks, starting with dinner on the arrival day and ending with breakfast on the departure day.
🥩 Turkish cuisine: meat is at the heart of it. Lamb, beef and chicken appear in many everyday dishes, and even vegetable dishes, soups and rice are often cooked with meat, meat broth or butter. Food is seasoned with spices such as red pepper flakes, black pepper, cumin, mint and sumac, and garlic and onion are used in almost every meal. As the venue is in a rural area, alternative options may be limited, but the organisers will do their best, and the application form asks about your dietary preferences.
Getting to Tosya
✈️ Fly to Ankara: for easier travel, the organisers recommend flying to Ankara.
🚌 Bus to Tosya: from Ankara's main bus terminal (AŞTİ), there are around 4 direct buses a day to Tosya. The journey takes about 3 hours and covers about 226 km.
More travel details are shared with the selected participants.
Travel Reimbursement
Erasmus+ contributes to the travel costs of participants to and from the venue. Your travel distance is calculated with the European Commission distance calculator from the location of the organisation you represent to Tosya, and costs are covered according to the 2025 Erasmus+ rules. Our guide to travel reimbursement and distance bands explains how these bands work. The amounts per participant by one-way distance are:
🚶 10 to 99 km: 28 EUR.
🚆 100 to 499 km: 211 EUR.
🚌 500 to 1,999 km: 309 EUR.
✈️ 2,000 to 2,999 km: 395 EUR.
🛫 3,000 to 3,999 km: 580 EUR.
🌐 4,000 to 7,999 km: 1,188 EUR.
🗺️ 8,000 km or more: 1,735 EUR.
💶 Paid in euro, in cash: reimbursements are paid by hand during the activity, against a signed receipt, for all costs supported by documents and invoices.
🧾 Keep everything: keep and hand in all e-tickets, invoices and boarding passes. No documents, no reimbursement.
📆 Stick to the dates: no early arrival or late departure without the coordinators' approval. Costs outside the activity dates are not covered.
Money, Weather and Insurance
💱 Currency: the Turkish lira (TRY). On 6 October 2026 the ECB exchange rate was about 1 EUR to 55.42 TRY, but the lira is very volatile, so check the rate shortly before you travel. Cards are widely accepted in cities, but in a rural area you may need cash in small shops, markets and local transport, so always keep some cash with you.
🌦️ Weather: November in Tosya is cold, and nights can drop below zero. The averages from the Kastamonu station of the Turkish State Meteorological Service are 11° during the day, 1° at night and 10 rainy days in November.
🛡️ Insurance: insurance is not covered by the project. Arrange your own travel and health insurance for the whole period of your trip.
What to Bring
💻 Your own laptop, to work on the games during the project.
🔌 Laptop and phone chargers, cables and a power bank.
🧥 Warm clothes, a warm coat and a rain jacket.
🆔 Your ID or passport. Always carry a photo ID with you.
🎫 All your e-tickets, invoices and boarding passes, for reimbursement.
🎉 A culture night kit: food, non-alcoholic drinks, music, costumes and stories from home.
For a fuller checklist, see our Erasmus+ preparation guide.
Local and Cultural Rules
🚫 No alcohol in public places: drinking alcohol in public places is prohibited, including streets, parks and all open areas, and shops do not sell alcohol between 22:00 and 06:00.
🚭 No smoking indoors: smoking is banned in all enclosed public places, including restaurants, cafés and public transport.
📇 Carry your ID: carrying a photo ID is required, so always have your passport or ID card with you.
📷 Ask before you shoot: always ask for permission before photographing people, and do not take photos of military or official installations.
🤝 Respect the community: Tosya is a small, traditional town, so be friendly, respectful and mindful of local customs.
Visiting a mosque:
👟 Take off your shoes before stepping on the carpet.
👕 Cover your shoulders and knees: no shorts or sleeveless tops.
🧣 Women should cover their hair with a headscarf.
🕰️ Avoid visiting during prayer times.
🚶 Do not walk in front of people who are praying.
📵 Do not photograph people while they pray, and turn off your flash.
Before You Arrive
🧠 Pre-test: selected participants receive a short pre-test before the activity, which helps the organisers understand everyone's knowledge level and build balanced teams.
💬 Online preparation meeting: once all participants are confirmed, the organisers hold an online meeting to meet each other and go over the final details.
🎥 Photo and video consent: agreeing to the use of photos and videos is required and is part of the application form.
How to Apply and What the Form Asks
Read the infopack carefully before you apply. The form takes about 10 minutes, and the organisers ask you to answer every question honestly and in your own words. For help with the written answers, see our tips for preparing a strong Erasmus+ application. The form asks for:
📣 How you heard about the project.
👤 Your first and last name exactly as in your passport or ID card, your e-mail address, your WhatsApp number with country code and the links to your social media profiles.
🎂 Your date of birth (participants must be at least 18), your gender (used to arrange the shared hotel rooms), your nationality, and your country and city of residence.
🏢 The organisation you represent: its full name, its OID (for example E10123456), its country and city, its website or social media page, a short introduction to the organisation and your role in it. Your travel reimbursement is calculated from the location of this organisation.
🆘 An emergency contact: name, relation to you and phone number with country code.
🗣️ Your level of English (basic, intermediate, upper intermediate or fluent), whether you have taken part in an Erasmus+ project before (no, 1 to 3, or 4 or more) and how you are involved in youth work (youth worker, youth leader, volunteer or young person active in youth projects).
🎮 The team you would like to join (board game, digital game or either), your experience with games and non-formal methods, and how familiar you are with AI tools such as Claude or ChatGPT.
✍️ Why you want to join, and how you will use what you learn in your organisation or in your work with young people.
🍽️ Your dietary preferences, food allergies or intolerances, and any health condition, disability, medication or special need, which is kept confidential.
✅ Eight declarations: your availability for the full period, 20 to 28 November 2026, including travel days; your understanding of the travel reimbursement rules (calculated from your organisation's location and paid in euro, in cash, during the activity, against original documents); that insurance is not included; that you will not arrive earlier or leave later without the coordinators' approval; that you will follow the local rule on alcohol in public places; your consent to data use by the Municipality of Tosya and, where needed, its collaborators, only for this project; your consent to the use of photos, videos and the content you create on websites and social media; and that you have read the infopack and understand the conditions of participation.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who can apply to Board and Byte Games?
Youth workers, youth leaders, volunteers and young people active in youth projects, aged 18 or older, from the 33 Erasmus+ Programme countries. Each participant represents an organisation and needs some experience in youth work or youth projects, but not expert level.
Do I need coding skills?
No. Digital games are built with no-code, AI-supported tools, and the project provides the AI accounts. You can also join a board game team instead.
Is there a participation fee?
No. The infopack states that there is no participation fee and that the organisers do not ask any participant for money.
What is the application deadline?
25 October 2026, according to the infopack and the application form.
How is travel reimbursed?
According to the 2025 Erasmus+ distance bands, from your organisation's location to Tosya, from 28 EUR to 1,735 EUR. It is paid in euro, in cash, during the activity, against a signed receipt and your travel documents.
What do I need to bring?
Your own laptop, chargers and a power bank, warm clothes and a rain jacket, your ID or passport, all your travel documents and a culture night kit.
How do I get to Tosya?
Fly to Ankara, then take one of the around 4 direct buses a day from Ankara's main bus terminal (AŞTİ). The journey takes about 3 hours.
Where will I stay?
At Doğramacı City Hotel, in shared rooms for 2 or 3 people assigned by gender, with roommates from different countries.
Is insurance included?
No. Arrange your own travel and health insurance for the whole period of your trip.
Will I receive a certificate?
Yes. Every participant receives a Youthpass certificate to recognise what they learned.
How many people take part?
36 participants.
Can I arrive early or leave late?
Only with the coordinators' approval. Costs outside the activity dates are not covered.
Project Snapshot
📌 Type: Erasmus+ Training Course (professional development activity, KA151 Youth Accreditation)
📍 Location: Tosya, Kastamonu, Türkiye
🗓️ Activity Dates: 20–28 November 2026 (arrival 20 November, departure 28 November)
🌍 Countries: Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye
🎂 Age: 18+
🔢 Project Number: 2025-1-TR01-KA151-YOU-000305068
Deadline
⏳ 25 October 2026
Applications close on 25 October 2026. Find more Erasmus+ training courses on Youth Works Hub.
Links
🔗 Application form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc_IH4ZdutwiefTsrqYBTSClfPUazPTcG3pQsC7M7Qr72XV_w/viewform
🏛️ Municipality of Tosya: https://tosya.bel.tr
📷 Tosya Youth: https://www.instagram.com/tosyayouth/
🏨 Doğramacı City Hotel: https://www.instagram.com/dogramacihotelcity/
🤝 Genç Yaşamın Sesleri Derneği: https://www.instagram.com/gysdkastamonu/
📏 Erasmus+ distance calculator: https://erasmus-plus.ec.europa.eu/resources-and-tools/distance-calculator
📧 Contact: tosyamunicipality@gmail.com
